"Holy, Holy, Holy Is The Lord Almighty"

“HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD ALMIGHTY” (Outline)

June 19, 2011 -

Pentecost 1 / Trinity Sunday -

ISAIAH 6:1-8

INTRO: The Lord God Almighty called Isaiah to be his prophet. Isaiah proclaimed the words that the Lord God Almighty gave him to proclaim. For 45 years Isaiah proclaimed judgments and blessings from the Triune God. From beginning to end the Bible declares our Lord God Almighty to be triune. True Christians know, believe, and confess faith in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Our God is three Persons but only one God = triune (trinity). Moses proclaims the awesomeness of God after Israel walks through the sea on dry ground. "Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you-- majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?" (EXODUS 15:11). God guides us to learn more about our Triune God: ”majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders”. “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD ALMIGHTY”. I. Our sinfulness overwhelms. II. God’s forgiveness overcomes us.

I. OUR SINFULNESS OVERWHELMS US.

A. Verse 1a. Isaiah places himself in the midst of human history. Many try to reject God’s word.

1. Historians recognize the kings of Israel and Judah as part of history. Isaiah lived at this time.

2. Verse 1b. The hem of the Lord’s robe fills the temple of the Lord: a glorious vision.

B. Verse 2. Seraphs are angels. Seraphs are divine beings created to worship the Lord.

1. Why six wings? With two wings they flew. With the other (4) wings they hid their face, feet.

2. Even God’s angels come to worship the Lord in humility and respect. They hide behind wings.

C. Verse 3. Isaiah saw the Lord. Isaiah saw the seraphs. Now Isaiah hears their words of worship.

1. Verse 4. The seraphs worship with thunderous words of praise. God is “holy, holy, holy”.

2. Verse 5. Isaiah’s sinfulness overwhelms him. He is unholy, sinful. God is holy, sinless.

D. We are no different than Isaiah or any other sinner in this world. Each one of us has been conceived and born with and into a sinful world. By nature we are sinful, wretched beings. None can escape the sin which we inherit from our first parents, Adam and Eve. Today, mankind is not always ready to admit the sin that infects us all. All too often sin is denied: “People are generally good at heart”. Sometimes sin is rejected outright: “Everyone is doing it, it is okay”. Some sins are now reclassified as sicknesses. Not one of these excuses can remove the inheritance that is ours by birth. "The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time" (GENESIS 6:5). All our thoughts are always tainted, infected by evil.

E. Today’s world often thinks much more of itself than it should. We often blame others for anything evil that happens. After all, we are too perfect to do anything bad. This is the result of our selfish and self-indulgent society. We are so stuck on ourselves that we do not care much about the feelings or opinions of others. It is just the opposite for those who truly serve the Lord God Almighty. John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus, the Messiah. The crowds came out and were ready to make John the Messiah. John would have none of it. "And this was his message: ‘After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie’"(MARK 1:7). John always wanted to become less so that Christ would become more. Oh, if only there were more believers like John today.

F. The disciples of Jesus also realized their unworthiness in the presence of an awesome God. None of them grabbed for any glory. It was Jesus who chose them. It was Jesus who called them to a life of hum-ble, self-sacrificing service. One time the disciples had fished all night. They caught nothing. Jesus sent them out in the morning. The boats were so full of fish they began to sink. "When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’" (LUKE 5:8). Like Peter, we can and do only and always admit, “I am sinful”. We are only sinful all the time Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. Compared to the sinlessness of our God our sinfulness is overwhelms us.

II. GOD’S FORGIVENESS OVERCOMES US.

A. The Lord God Almighty is giving Isaiah a vision to encourage and strengthen him in his ministry.

1. During his 45 years of ministry one bad king after another went from bad to worse.